Broom-head



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL D. THURSTON, OF SOMERVILLE, OHIO.

BROOM-HEAD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,631, dated December19, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D. THURSTON, of Somerville,.Butler county,Ohio, have invented a new and useful Metallic Broom-Head; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making partof this specification.

This improvement belongs to the class of devices intended to enablefarmers and others residing in the country to refill their own brooms atany time.

Figure 1 shows a complete broom with my improved head. Fig. 2 shows themetallic head in condition to receive the twigs or whisps or othermaterial. Fig. 3 shows the head in the closed form. Fig. 4 shows amodification of my straps. Fig. 5 shows a modification of myscrew-pointed handle.

A is a crescent-formed sheath of thin metal, flexible toward itsextremities A A, which, when left at liberty, diverge in the mannershown in Fig. 2. A hole, a, in the sheath, permits the insertion of thetapered and screwthreaded extremity b of a handle, B, of wood.

a a" are orifices for wood-screws, whose.insertion into the handle Bcompletes the formation of the broom.

The sheath A may also have two slots, a a, for the reception of thehinges O and O, which connect together the two limbs d d of the strap D,and the two limbs e e of the strap E. Each strap, D and E, is providedat one end with an eye, F or F, and at its other end is traversed by aslot, G or G. Each strap has two barbs, H, which point toward the bendor hollow portion of the strap.

The head is filled in manner following: The straps D and E, having beencoupled together on one side by the insertion of the ring or eye F intothe slot G, are laid upon a bench or table and the sheath placed uponthem so as for its ends A and A to occupy the bends of the straps. Asuitable quantity of whisps or other material being then introduced, thelimbs 01 and e of the straps are brought down to the position shown inFig. 2, so as to engage the eye F within the slot G. The free ends ofthe straps and the ends A A of the sheath are then crowded toward eachother enough to bring the eyes F and F so nearly coincident as to permittheinsertion of the screw-threaded point of the handle, which, beingthen rotated,

acts to draw the ends and sides of the straps and the ends of the sheathtogether, so as to crowd the material on the outside while the handleitself is crowding it on the inside, the barbs H at the same timepreventing the escape of the material from the bends of the straps andkeeping the edges of the broom full and dense. Finally, two smallwood-screws are passed through the holes'a a. into the substance of thehandle B.

The above-described device is susceptible of various modifications. Forexample, each strap may be formed of a single piece of spring steel orbrass, and may be retained upon the sheath by any suitable projectionformed upon the latter. The screw-thread b may be on the outside of ametallic ferrule, or may be out upon the wooden handle itself.

I have described my mode of filling the metallic head by hand; but theprocess may be better and more quickly performed by providing a fewsimple clamps and levers for holding and compressing the parts in theact of filling.

I claim herein as new and of my invention 1. The crescent-formedmetallic sheath A A A a, and tightening-straps D F G E F G, adapted tooperate in conjunction with a taperin g screw-pointed handle, in themanner set forth.

2. In combination with the parts specified in the foregoing clause, thebarbs H H, applied and operating as and for the purposes set forth. I

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

S. D. THURSTON.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, JAMES H. LAYMAN.

